IMPROVED ANIMAL FEEDER WITH DISPENSING MECHANISM AND DUST COVER

摘要

An improved livestock feeder for use with an automatic feed delivery system having a feed drop tube operatively connected thereto for dispensing feed in to a feed bin is disclosed. The improved feeder is provided with an adjustable fe ed dispensing mechanism including control levers which are operatively connecte d to the feed metering gates to control the flow of feed to livestock. The dispensing mechanism features a plurality of adjustable control levers which engage an array of indexing holes formed in the feeder to set the vertical height adjustment of the feed gates. The dispensing mechanism includes a graduated scale correspondin g to each of the index holes to provide a standard setting for the feeder which c an be utilized by an animal producer to supply of feed flow at a given stage in th e. animal's life cycle to obtain a desired growth rate. In a production facilit y where several of the feeders are in use a standard setting for the release of feed may be obtained to reduce variations in animal growth rate.